Sherrod's return to USDA not set

Shirley Sherrod is not going back to the U.S. Department of Agriculture – at least not yet.

Drew Berry, a spokesman for Sherrod, said USDA jumped the gun two weeks ago when it confirmed she would sign on to help improve its record with minority farmers.

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Sherrod, who is African American, lost her job as Georgia director of rural development, after a video surfaced in which she seemed to be describing how she used her position to short-change white farmers. But the video posted on the Internet turned out to have misrepresented Sherrod’s speech to the NAACP.

The speech was in fact a deeply personal story of racial healing – and the attempt at damage control became a huge embarrassment for the Obama administration.

But despite a personal apology and appeal from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak, Sherrod refused to return to work at the department.

Berry, whose Baltimore-based firm Berry & Associates, handles media requests for Sherrod, told POLITICO that she is interested now, but that it was “very, very premature” for the USDA to say earlier this month that she had agreed to work with the department as an independent contractor running an outreach program in Georgia.

“There are still some discussions between Mrs. Sherrod… If I were a betting man, right now I’d say it was a 50-50 chance” that the USDA and Sherrod could strike a mutually agreeable deal, Berry said.

Berry said the sticking point is over whether she would get “the tools she needs” to be effective, including proper staffing levels and an adequate budget. “She’s not interested in superficial changes. She’s interested in real, long-lasting changes,” he said.

Berry would not speculate why the USDA confirmed Sherrod’s anticipated role before a deal had been reached. “You’ll have to ask them,” he said.

On May 14, USDA spokesman Justin DeJong, responding to questions, told POLITICO that the department expected Sherrod to soon start work with the USDA as a contract employee, running a program in southwest Georgia program that encourages minority and women farmers to use the government’s agricultural resources and help them navigate its bureaucracy.

DeJong said this week that “discussions with Mrs. Sherrod and other organizations are ongoing,” but declined further comment.

Berry said Sherrod believes Vilsack has “a sincere desire to make things better” but the USDA bureaucracy – and lingering problems within its culture – is standing in the way.